Combined ore concentrator and amalgamator.



No. 739,971. PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

v D. W. ALMOND. COMBINED ORE OONGBNT-RATOR AND AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED HOV. B, 1902'.

N0 MODEL.

THE uanms PETERS C0,, wmTo-urnmwAsmumum o c UNITED STATES Patented September 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

DORSEY W. ALMOND, OF'LEADVILLE, COLORADO.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 739,971, dated September 29, 1903.

Application filed November R, 1902. Serial No. 130,588. (No model.)

To all whom, it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, DORSEY W. ALMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leadville, in the county of Lake and State of Colorado, have invented newand useful Improvements in a Combined Ore Concentrator and Amalgamator, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in oreconcentrators; and it consists in the peculiar and advantageous combined ore concentrator and amalgamator hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claim ap: pended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diametricalseetion of a combined ore concentrator and amalgamator constituting the preferred embodiment of my invention, and Fig. 2 a plan view of the same with the driveshaft in section.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both views of the drawings, referring to which A is the bed or support of my improved apparatus, which may be of any suitable description; B, a stationary pan, preferably circular in form, arranged on the bed; O, a discharge conduit or launder leading from the bottom of the pan; D, an annular downwardly and inwardly pitched or inclined wall arranged on the sidewall aof pan B and having the upwardly-extending wall Z) at its outer edge. The portion of the apparatus thus far describedisstationary, and the walls D 1) thereof are either formed of or faced, as indicated by E, with copper which has been amalgamated.

F is a fixed central hearing, which preferably extends upwardly through the conduit 0 and pan l3, and G a' shaft stepped in the bearing F and having for its purpose to bear the rotary portion of the apparatus. The

shaft G is shown as equippedat its upper end with a miter-gear c, inter-meshed with a mitergear 61 on another shafte; but it is obvious that motion may be transmitted to said shaft G in any other approved manner without departing from'the scope of my invention.

The rotaryportion of the apparatus preferably comprises a receptacle f, surrounding the shaft G and fixed at its bottom thereto, a plurality of pipes g, communicating with and extending radially from the receptacle and arranged to discharge downwardly on the amalgamated-copper facing E of the walls 'D b, and a downwardly and inwardly pitched or inclined wall 7L, surrounding and connected to the upper end of the receptacle and having a marginal wall 2'. The walls h i are designed to be formed of or faced, as indicated by H, with copper which has been amalgamated.

I is a conduit or launder through which finely-comminuted ore or pulp and water are supplied to the apparatus, the said conduit being arranged, as shown, to discharge on the copper-faced wall h.

In the practice of my invention when the. shaft G is rotated and pulp and water are supplied to the apparatus through the conduit I the pulp and water will pass over the cop per plate H, throughthe receptacle f and distributing conduits g, and over the copper plate E to the pan l3. Incident to such passage of the pulp and water through the apparatus a portion of the gold and silver contained in the ore will be caught and retained by the plate H, while the remainder thereof will be held by the plate E. The plate H by reason ofits inclination enables the wet pulp to slip or wash down into the receptacle f, and the inclined plate E performs a like function with reference to the pan B. Incident to the operation the heavier particles of pulp will remain where they fall in the pan'B, while the lighter particlesviz., tailings and slimeswill wash over the heavy particles and be discharged through the conduit 0.

Itwill be appreciated from the foregoing that notwithstanding the simplicity of my improved ore concentrator and amalgamator the same is highly eflicient in operation and requires but a minimum amount of attention; also, that the construction is such that the apparatus may be cleaned up-i. 6., the collected gold and silvermay be reinoved ewith great facility.

, \Vhile I prefer to employ copper which has been amalgamated for the purpose of catching and retaining the gold and silver present in the pulp, I do not desire to be understood as confining myself to the same, as the rotary tray and the stationary pan or receptacle may be otherwise equipped to perform that function without departing from the scope of my invention. I also do not desire to be understood as confining myself to the specific construction and relative arrangement of parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my claim.

The copper facings or plates E and II are amalgamated with mercury or quicksilver or its equivalent, and the amalgamation may be and preferably is effected in the conventional manner.

I generally prefer to provide the pipes g with sweeps g, of canvas or other suitable textile material. These sweeps are designed to remove the sand and waste particles from the ore with a View of accelerating the concentration.

Ilaving described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The herein-described combined ore concentrator and amalgamator consisting essentially of a bed or support, a stationary receptacle arranged thereon, and made up of a pan, an annular, downwardly and inwardly inclined wall D mounted on the upper edge of the side wall of and arranged to discharge into the pan, and equipped with means for catching and holding gold and silver, a wall I) extending upwardly from the outeredge of said wall D, and a discharge-conduit leading from the center of the bottom of the pan, a fixed bearing F extending through said conduit and the bottom of the pan, a vertical shaft journaled in said bearing, a rotary tray fixed on the shaft, above the center of the pan, and comprising a receptacle, an annular downwardly and inwardly inclined wall h mounted on the upper edge of the side wall of and arranged to discharge into the receptacle, and equipped with means for catching and holding' gold and silver, and a wallt' extending upwardly from the outer edge of the wall 71-, radial pipes connected to the receptacle of the tray, and arranged to discharge on the wall D of the stationary receptacle, means for supplying pulp and water to the inclined wall of the tray, and sweeps connected to and carried by the radial pipes, and movable in the stationary receptacle.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DORSEY \V. ALMOND.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM R. DUFF, HENRY R. PENDREY. 

